Kickstarter on sequel?

[lessster]

First I have to admit I didn't back this game on kickstarter. But this is just because I wasn't aware of it.

But now after playing it I really have to say that it's absolutely gorgeous and I would immediately support a sequel on kickstarter.

Does anyone know yet if there will be a sequel?

[Elessara]

There's one in the works. I actually think they're planning on 4 games total if they can continue to get the funds for them. The title for the next one is Wizard's Way, I believe. I don't know that there's an official kickstarter though.

The website is www.hero-u.com

[Poke]

If they do a kickstarter I'd totally support it. This game was a lot of fun and I'd love to see how they would improve the formula for a sequel.

[DJCriswell265]

I remember voice acting in some of the later QFGs. I was a little upset at that being missing here. I vant to hear Esssme's voice.

[Elessara]

Originally posted by DJCriswell265:

I remember voice acting in some of the later QFGs. I was a little upset at that being missing here. I vant to hear Esssme's voice.

Voice acting ... decent voice acting heh ... is expensive.

[Fast Jimmy]

Originally posted by Elessara:

Originally posted by DJCriswell265:

I remember voice acting in some of the later QFGs. I was a little upset at that being missing here. I vant to hear Esssme's voice.

Voice acting ... decent voice acting heh ... is expensive.

And not only expensive, but also adds significant time to the development of the game. Every tiny change to the script or text results in booking the voice actor back, accomodating their schedule and paying them more money. It results in things being much more difficult to tweak and polish when adding a voice to every line of dialogue.

[Beretta [Nuclear Winter Gaming]]

Also they didnt reach the stretch goal for voice acting.

[For_Science!]

Originally posted by Beretta Nuclear Winter Gaming:

Also they didnt reach the stretch goal for voice acting.

Was there actually a stretch goal for voice axcting? That surprises me; it seems like too much to bite off without scaling the scope of the whole project way up.

I would think more feasible stretch goals would be more art assets (let Shawn's equipment choices appear in the main game, not just in the character screen) and maybe more characters or elective courses for (even) greater replayability.

[Goilveig]

Originally posted by For_Science!:

Originally posted by Beretta Nuclear Winter Gaming:

Also they didnt reach the stretch goal for voice acting.

Was there actually a stretch goal for voice axcting? That surprises me; it seems like too much to bite off without scaling the scope of the whole project way up.

I would think more feasible stretch goals would be more art assets (let Shawn's equipment choices appear in the main game, not just in the character screen) and maybe more characters or elective courses for (even) greater replayability.

It was their first kickstarter - I don't think they really knew just how much they were biting off as is.

With the next one, they should be able to take all they learned last time around and hopefully have a much smoother go of it. All things considered it was probably a blessing that they didn't have to deal with voice acting this time around

[transolar]

Everything above is correct - You've been studying the lectures well. :-) And yes, we made many mistakes in the Kickstarter campaigns due to inexperience and incorrect assumptions. But we're doing our best to fulfill as many of our promises as we can.

So far, this is an unprofitable game, which makes it difficult to justify putting a lot more money and years into additional games. However, it's too soon to be sure about that as it's impossible to tell whether Rogue to Redemption will become a sleeper hit and/or have a "long tail" of sales. Few games manage that, but some do.

Since we obviously can't wait a year or more to find out, we have already begun several additional products - a DLC pack for this game (art book, bestiary, hint book, and soundtrack), the planned second game in the series (Hero-U: Wizard Way or a variation on that title), and a smaller game, Summer Daze at Hero-U, which was inspired by "dating simulators," but doesn't fit squarely into that category.

The only one of those that is certain to appear is the DLC pack, as we need it to fulfill promised backer rewards. We're also likely to do a Nintendo Switch port of the first game - we plan to announce a crowdfunding campaign for that next month. Lori is very excited about a board game we've been developing - you could think of it as a hybrid of Clue, various Euro games, and Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption in board game form.

All of these things take time, and we have many other distractions, so our plan is to work on them for a while, fulfill the rest of our crowdfunding obligations for the first game, then see where we are. If we're a million dollars in the hole, it will be hard to justify finishing a big game like Wizard Way, but we might still go ahead with some of the smaller projects.

I don't think we can fully fund a game like this on Kickstarter - two Kickstarter campaigns covered about 40% of the development cost of the first game. At that, we still did better than some other significant Kickstarter projects. The trick will be to find out how close we can come to making back the other 60% through game and DLC sales.

Will we do more Kickstarters (or Fig or IndieGoGo or similar) campaigns? Yes, probably. But it will be very tough to succeed with them and bring in a big enough portion of our game budgets. We can also pursue outside investors, but most of them prefer to make money rather than lose it. :-)

[Goilveig]

I also very much hope you can find a way to continue to make these games and do so at a profit. I know the two of you made this game at a great personal cost, and pushed forward where many others would have folded, and I definitely admire your perseverence.

I've been a huge fan of your work since the moment I first stepped into Spielburg more than two and a half decades ago, and I still replay the Quest for Glory series every few years. Shadows of Darkness makes it to my personal top 10 favorite games of all time.

Although I jumped in the kickstarter right away on Hero U, I admit that I took a while to actually start playing it. I was a bit apprehensive because Quest for Glory is a very tough act to follow. So far, I'm loving this game - and I very much hope that it will be the start of a successful series of its own.

[MaebeKnot]

I'm sorry to hear about the lack of profit. Sadly that is often the case with video games.

I did a pitty purchase today. Even at $20, it was a little rich for my blood. Point and click is about 5th in my list of top 10 genres. So it's not always easy to find time to play one. Hopefully discounts and future sales will help close the gaps for your company.

I looked forward to playing Hero-U soon. Been looking for something like the Hero of the Kingdom series without having to replay HotK3 just yet. I feel like Hero-u will be a good way of accomplishing that.

[Goilveig]

Originally posted by MaebeKnot:

Point and click is about 5th in my list of top 10 genres. So it's not always easy to find time to play one.

Well, Hero-U is more on the RPG side of Adventure RPG, versus being a point-and-click adventure.

The core gameplay of most adventure games is acquiring an inventory of items, which are used and combined in various ways to progress the story, sometimes in bizarre ways, and usually there is only a single "right answer" to every puzzle.

With Hero U, most of the items you need are bought at the school store, and they're pretty obvious. Lockpicks pick locks, oil will lubricate hinges and locks, the rope and grapnel is used to hook onto things and climb, etc. Instead, the core gameplay is about improving Shawn's skills while exploring the world. If you don't have enough tool use, you won't get that lock open. If your throwing arm is a wet noodle, you're not going to get the grapnel to catch. Hero U will often give you more than one solution to a problem, though, so if you can't solve it in one way, try another.

This game won't have you doing things like swapping George Washington's dentures for novelty chattering teeth to make Thomas Jefferson think he's cold, or offer cheese to a lactose-intolerant volcano god in order to trigger an eruption. That isn't the style of gameplay here at all. (Both of those are excellent games, but very different from this one).

[MaebeKnot]

@Goilveig That is great to hear! I could never get into old school point and clicks because they required the player to know what the developer was thinking/wanting the solution to be. To often they weren't intuitive and the games often offered few tips. The internet being what it was back then, it wasn't easy to find hints and guides online. Plus it takes a lot of the fun out by reading a guide. Yet I also enjoy the causal nature of clicking around and discovering stuff and being rewarded.

It seems like Hero-U is a combination of RPG, Point and Click, and Dating Sim. Which seems like an interesting combination to me. Which is why this game caught my eye on release.

[IrishMinstrel]

Originally posted by Goilveig :

This game won't have you doing things like swapping George Washington's dentures for novelty chattering teeth to make Thomas Jefferson think he's cold, or offer cheese to a lactose-intolerant volcano god in order to trigger an eruption.

I'm terribly sorry for the offtop but where's the first example from?
The second is, of course, Monkey Island 3. Love it)

[HalloweenSax]

Originally posted by Goilveig:

This game won't have you doing things like swapping George Washington's dentures for novelty chattering teeth to make Thomas Jefferson think he's cold, or offer cheese to a lactose-intolerant volcano god in order to trigger an eruption. That isn't the style of gameplay here at all. (Both of those are excellent games, but very different from this one).

This sounds really fun, are these examples from actual games? It reminds me of the humour found in Sam and Max and other Lucasarts games (and other games like Spellcasting).